Sunday Homily, November 8, 2026

To All,

In our Gospel reading for Sunday (Matthew 25:1-13), Jesus tells a parable about ten virgins waiting for the arrival of the bridegroom. Five of these virgins were wise, and five were foolish, Since the bridegroom was long delayed, the lamps of the foolish virgins were running out of oil, and so they asked the wise ones who had brought extra oil with them, for some of their oil, but the wise ones refused, saying they did not have enough for everyone. They advise the foolish virgins to get some oil, but by the time they get back, the bridegroom has locked the door, and refuses to let the foolish virgins in. And then Jesus says, “Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

In the context of the parable, I have wondered why the wise virgins refuse to give the foolish ones some of their oil. And so I have thought that perhaps the oil represents something we cannot give to another person. One thing we cannot give to another is a relationship with God. We can share our faith. We can demonstrate our faith by the things we say and do, and how we relate to others. But we cannot give our relationship to God to someone else.

The parable tells us not to put off getting right with God, because we truly do not know the day or the hour when we are called home. In other words, we are not to take our relationship with God, or with anyone for that matter, for granted.

In light of that, another lesson from the parable may be that even though the bridegroom locked out the foolish virgins, we cannot presume to lock people out because they are different, or because we have judged them unworthy. We can look at our own foolishness, and how God has been merciful to us. We can look at the times we believed we didn’t, or shouldn’t, need any help. We can look at the times when we were convinced that our way was better than God’s way. We can remember the times when we let resentments rule our hearts, or when we believed in the worldly wisdom that told us we could find peace in our possessions. And we can look at how we, like the foolish virgins in the parable, took things and people, even God, for granted.

May we trust in God’s everlasting love and mercy. May we believe in Jesus’ promise that He would always be with us. But may we never take God, or people, or all of God’s creation, for granted.

I welcome any comments or questions. Thanks for your time.

In Christ,
Phil, CP